Commonwealth Bank responds to outrage over app outage

In an age where digital banking is fast becoming the norm, the reliability of banking apps is more crucial than ever.

However, the recent crash of the Commonwealth Bank (CommBank) app, known as NetBank, has left millions of Australians unable to access their money and carry out essential transactions.



The issue began to surface on social media as customers expressed their frustration and concern.

With the app down since approximately 8 pm on Tuesday, 12 March, users were greeted with a message informing them that the bank was aware of the problem and was working urgently to resolve it.


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Customers were affected by the CommBank outage on 12 March. Credit: Shutterstock


The message read: 'We're aware some customers may be encountering difficulties with some of our services right now. We are urgently investigating this, and we're sorry for any inconvenience caused.'

The outage didn't just affect the mobile app; website services were also impacted, leaving customers with limited options for checking account balances, paying bills, or transferring funds.

The bank was flooded with customer complaints on social media.



‘I just see my balance from 8:38 pm but can't pay anything, and the page doesn't even let me log in. Please [sic] fix asap as I need to pay bills,’ one said.

‘Everything is down, can’t access my money, check balance or pay for groceries, and your call centres are [sic] closed. Seriously, come on,’ another complained.

Other customers said they hadn’t heard from CommBank until an hour into the outage when the bank started to reply to complaints around 10 pm on 12 March.


Credit: @CommBank / X (formerly known as Twitter)

At 12:30 am on Wednesday, 13 March, the situation had been resolved.

‘Services are being restored,’ CommBank said on its website.

‘We apologise to customers who encountered difficulties accessing some of our services this evening. The CommBank app and NetBank are now available. Customers may still experience some delays to payments.’

At 7 am the same day, CommBank announced all services, including the CommBank App, NetBank, CommBiz, and CommSec, were available.



Several banks also experienced outages, which intensified arguments about the dangers of Australians becoming too reliant on cashless or digital payments in the face of becoming a ‘cashless society’.

In January, ME Bank experienced a 24-hour outage, which customers found ‘unacceptable’ and ‘ridiculous’.

In another story, at least six financial institutions were also affected by an outage in February. Disgruntled customers reported the outage affected their payments, transfers, and access to their accounts.
Key Takeaways

  • Commonwealth Bank customers experienced difficulties using the NetBank app, which has crashed.
  • The outage also affected the bank's website services, causing widespread inconvenience to customers.
  • The bank acknowledged the issue with a message confirming they are investigating and working on a fix.
  • At 7 am on Wednesday, 13 March, CommBank announced that all services were available.
Were you affected by the CommBank outage? Let us know in the comments below.
 
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Yes and initially there weren't any messages up advising of anything, so I thought I had been hacked because I couldn't see balance, couldn't transfer anything, I was freaking out, till I went to to the website. Very distressing and then just bloody annoying. So I can understand people's frustration if having to pay bill, buy food etc. There must be a quicker way to let people know
 
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Reactions: Romida
Yes affected very, unacceptable frustrating . Still can't transfer any money because I get told I've reached my limit for the day, even though nothing went through. I feel sorry for those who had to pay bills or shop. Initially I thought I was hacked or scamned so very distressing.
 
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Reactions: Romida and Lukey
Yes I was affected and received NO notification from the bank! Plus after ringing them it seems even the staff didn’t know??? Absolutely deplorable service!
 
Did anyone see the story on channel 7 this morning? Erin Brockovich is working with the Commonwealth bank on water sustainability issues.
Perhaps Erin could sort out the digital issues all the banks and other companies are having as well. Perhaps the bank should stick to banking.
 
We are living in a World of Bankers that are Corrupt and a Band of Theives, they are pushing their Digital Banking which is completely unsatifactory to most ,they technically own your Money sitting in their Banks ,they offer very little in return ,yet they use your Money for Loans etc at an inflated price
 
Before long the banks will ruin Australia, this is what we have to look forward to if the country goes cash less, the banks are making millions and they cannot give their customers protection from these technology break downs, are they going to pay the fines imposed on the people who are late paying their bills through outage, but still the fault can also be blamed on those who are ready to flash their cards when paying for goods. I am a cash only when buying goods.
 
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Reactions: Romida and gbaerken
My payment did not go through for an order to Coles. Order got cancelled. Then after I shopped they said sorry your order should not have been cancelled as it was a problem at our end. Too late. I wonder if this was the problem
 
Gee, I had no problems with the Commonwealth Bank Outage, get used to it people, the digital age controls.... you!!
Take control back and use........ 'cash', for the majority of your financial affairs and have control over.....your money!!
Try explaining why your 'Bills' weren't paid or were late, on 'Outage Days', Companies won't be interested in your excuses but I bet they will charge you fees, though!!! Just saying!!
Take back your control.....use cash, it is not rocket science!!
 
Did anyone see the story on channel 7 this morning? Erin Brockovich is working with the Commonwealth bank on water sustainability issues.
Perhaps Erin could sort out the digital issues all the banks and other companies are having as well. Perhaps the bank should stick to banking.
Maybe Brockovich can piss right off and keep her nose out of things she has nothing to do with.

Just a head on a stick!
 
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Reactions: IAN3005
This electronic banking needs to be brought under control, this is becoming more regular and affecting more people each time......
 
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Reactions: IAN3005
Not only this reason is to stop going cashless, if you don't meet the government's "orders" they'll be able to cut your money off, no access to your own money, like they did in Canada to the truckie. Globalism is not our friend.
 

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